Characters belong to DC Comics. I am just borrowing them. :p
"You're quite…uh…direct, Ms. Quinn." Jack Napier's tongue flicked out and licked his lips while his green eyes scrolled down Dr. Quinzel, studying her intently. "I hope that is not an indication of a lack of," he paused, "patience on your part." The end of patience was drawn sounding like the hiss of a snake. "I would hate to think that you are," another pause and scrolling glance, "lacking in virtues."
A shiver ran up her spine with each glance that he sent her way. "I have plenty of virtues about me. I just choose when and where, as well as to whom, I display them." Jack rolls his eyes. Harleen continues, "You show up unannounced with a request from your doctors or whoever to be heard. I am trying to hear what you have to say but the only time you wish to open up is to enquire about my attributes…now please begin your tale."
Jack's tongue flipped around his mouth and his lips smacked. He dusted off a small portion of his navy suit while the rest remained covered. He climbed onto the couch and sat on the back of it.
"Well, shall we begin story time? I think that you, boys…and…uh...girls, will enjoy the tale we have for you today." He imitated Mr. Rogers when he spoke. He mimed opening a large book and flipping through its pages. "This story is called 'The Face of a Dead Star.'"
The Children's entertainer left his voice as a cackle burst out into full blown fit of laughter. Jack almost fell off of the back of the couch, being forced to abandon his laugh in order to grab the rim of the couch for balance. A small chuckle escaped and this his story resumed.
"Young Jack Napier lived alone with his mother. He never knew his father, although, his mother, my…uh mother, she assured him, me, that he wasn't worth getting knowing. But she…uh…she was a wretched woman…God rest her soul." Jack slid down onto the couch and was then up and pacing as he talked.
"I was the only family that my mom had, and as fate would have it, I was, how shall I say this…" he rolled his eyes, glancing into his head for the words, "sub-uh par." Jack let out a small sigh. "You see, she always wanted a daughter." The symbols of daughter were both drawn out. "Each time we saw a movie with a bee-you-tee-full actress or each time we passed a love-uh-lee lady on the street she would glance at me in disgust. And once we were safe in our home, or every night when she tucked me into my bed and wished me sweet dreams, she would…uh... tell me…remind me…just to make sure that I remembered…how much she wished that I was a wee…little…lass."
Harleen began to find that she was focusing more on the pauses than on the words. Her eyes followed his stroll around the room and came together as he approached her desk. His story stopped as he perched upon her desk to make sure he had her attention.
"Now, as you might imagine, what with your degree, is that this took quite a toll on a young boy. I was constantly under the guidance and supervision of a woman that wished that I was something that I could never be. I...uh…strived to be as close to what she wanted as possible. I took on the responsibilities of a young lady, but even that wasn't enough. Then was just a little boy acting like a little girl, which was worse than just being a little boy.
"You can imagine that with this mess brewing at home…I was never the popular one at school." He gave a small chuckle at the thought of popularity. "And the only thing that not having any friends at school did for me was allow me to spend more time at home with dear…sweet…mum." Jack's head dropped shook and then returned to its upright position.
"She despised me even more in my teenage years. When I didn't have menstruation to signal the arrival of womanhood but instead had the 'sinful' urges of teenage boy, she nearly kicked me out of the house…but that wouldn't come to fruition until a later date. For now we just lived together in mutual…dis-har-mon-ee. We both eagerly anticipated the day when I would graduate and 'spread my wings,' as they say.
"That day soon came and when it did, I…uh...flew right into Gotham University. It was more of a crash landing than anything though. I had never been on my own and my mother had failed miserably to prepare me for anything other than rocking back and forth in a little ball. And that is just what I did. It caused me to lose my scholarships and landed me up in a shithole apartment. I worked at a small convenient store…thought of myself as kind of a mentally scarred, American version of Apu. And that was when my mother came to town.
"She found me in this crime-infested, corrupt, little slice of paradise and had more to say than ever. What really struck the chord though was her rant about this movie that she had seen talking about The Black Dahlia. She gave me such grief about how beautiful the girl was and how even in death she would have been a better child than I have ever been. She sat at the table and watched me as I finished washing the dishes…and then she spoke her final words to me. It rang something to the tune of, 'I wish you had never been born. You have made my life Hell. I hope you die miserable and alone.' Then she walked out my door.
"I had gotten pretty used to her verbal assaults, but this, this…this was just too much-uh." Jack stared into Harleen's eyes for a moment, making sure that she grasped the situation. "As I stared into the dish water, the gleam of the knife reflected, albeit blurrily, through the water. It showed a reflection of everything that I did not want to see at the moment. I grabbed the handle." He mimed holding a knife. "And then I threw it like a dart into the door where my mother had left a few seconds earlier." He did this motion as well, and Harleen could have sworn that something flew from his hand.
"As I watched the light dance off of the blade as it swayed from side…to…uh side…I found a true beauty. A thought popped into the old noggin as I walked towards the door and I knew the one way to grasp-uh her affection. I would give her beauty in the face of a dead star. I would be as lovely in life as the Black Dahlia had been in death."
Harleen listened to the story as her eyes shown with disbelief and deep concern. She did not dare to interrupt until the tale was over and didn't have an idea of what she would have said if she wanted to interrupt.
"I pried the knife from my door. There were still a few soap suds clinging to it. I bit down and pushed the knife back towards my jaw. Blood flowed into my mouth but it was so intense that the only pain I felt came from my mother moments earlier. As my smile rivaled that of the Cheshire Cat, I realized that reality was fading. I grasped the phone and got out 3 numbers and an address and then the world closed in." Harleen's jaw dropped but she did not say a word.
"I awoke to bright light above me, the taste of pennies and found gauze covering my new smile. They held me there for sometime and placed me under suicide watch. I was never suicidal. I just wanted to please my mother." A small explosion of laughter warped into a serious face.
"And did this…cry for attention…get you what you desired?" asked Dr. Quinzel.
"Weren't you paying attention earlier? I said that her I had already heard her last words to me. That should tell you... the answer is a ree-sound-ding…No. My mother never got home that night, or out of my apartment building for that matter. Gotham City is a rough place…especially in the slums. As she was leaving my building, she was robbed, raped, and murdered." Jack said this without any emotion in just a matter of fact way.
"I explained my situation numerous times to those who watched over me during my stay at the hospital. I finally convinced them to let me out so that I could get back to my normal life. The only condition of the deal was, non-ne-goat-she-abe-ale. And that is what brings me to your door step, Ms. Quinn."
Jack brought back his Mr. Rogers voice. "And that kids, is the end of our story. I hope that you enjoyed it. Come back next time for another tale from my big book of life." He closed the invisible book, clapping his hands as it shut. Harleen was not expecting a sound from an invisible book and jumped back a few inches.
"Is that just a story or the truth?" She asked hoping that it didn't come off as an intrusion or an accusation.
"If I told you that where would the magic of the story be…uh…Dollface." He turned and walked out of the room. Part of Harleen prayed he would never come back while another part wished that he would turn around right now and walk into her office.